Shoe-sewing machine.



No. 644,6I9. Patented Mar. 6, I900. J. W. MELOON. SHOE SEWING MACHINE.

(Application filed May 21, 1898.)

2 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

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Patented Mar. 6, I900.

No. 644,6l9.

J. W. MELUUN. SHOE SEWING MACHINE.

(Application filed May 21, 1898.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

WITNEEE E CITED STATES PATENT Prion.

JAMES W. MELOON, OF BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY;

SHOE-SEWING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 644,619, dated March 6, 1900; Application filed May 21, 1898. Serial No. 681,319. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES W. MELOON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brockton, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Sewing Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to shoe-sewing machines, and'more particularly to that type of shoe sewing machines known as chain-stitch machines and usually employed to sew the upper to the insole of a turned shoe and the welt to the lasted upper and insole of a welted shoe.

I11 chain-stitch hookneedle sewing-machines of' the prior art the slack of the loops of thread forming the stitches has been removed and the stitches drawn tight and set either by the retraction or loop-drawing movement of the needle or by a take-up or stitchsetter which acts upon the thread while the needle is in the work and the loop of thread around the shank thereof, and in all cases, because of the friction caused by the winding and bending of the thread forming the stitches as it passes through the stock, the tightening or setting of the stitches has been with diffi culty accomplished, and much strain has been put upon the thread and the stitch-setting instrumentalities in setting the stitches. This strain is so great that it causes a constant breaking of the thread and a derangement of the parts of the stitch-forming mechanism. Much of the difficulty arises from the fact that in the setting of the stitches by the methods above set forth the pull on the thread is such that great pressure and binding action are brought upon the loop of the stitch being set, resulting in a frictional clamping of such loop, which prevents the reeving of the thread necessary to shorten the loop and the setting of the stitch.

The object of the present invention is to produce a machine wherein the loops of the stitches'will be shortened without subjecting the thread to much strain. by a pull on the.

thread drawn out by the needle in the line of the feed and preferably a direction away from the closed end of the loop of the stitch to be shortened, and thereby to render the operation of setting the stitches tight and producing a tight seam much more easily accomplished than in any machine heretofore known.

To the above end the present invention consists of the devices and combinations of devices, as will he hereinafter described and claimed.

The present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a front elvation of the upper part of a hook-needle chain-stitch machine embodying the same. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine as illustratedin Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the operation of the stitch'setting device.

Similar letters and figures of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings, A represents the base-plate of the head of the machine, which, as usual in machines of this character, is mounted upon a stand or column A, a portion only of which is shown.

Projecting upward from the base A are the standards a, which carry suitable bearin gs c, in which is mounted the main shaft a carrying suitable cams 1, 2, and 3 to actuate the moving parts of the machine and which may be rotated by any suitable or convenient means. Along the front of the base-plate A is a vertical stand or frame a and supported bracket B, in the outer end of which is fulits upper end upon the shaft (0 and provided with a cam-roll b engaging a cam-groove (not shown) in the right-hand face of cam 1 on the shaft (0 The looper is shown at O and is mounted to rotate in a bearing 0, projecting downward and backward from a guide a in the bracket B, the said looper being rotated by a rack 0 which isreciprocated along the guide 0 by means of a link 0 connected to a leverc which is fulcrumed at 0 upon the base-plate A of the machine and which has a cam-roll c engaging, a cam-path (not shown) in the left-hand face of cam 2 on the shaft (L2.

The upper end of the looper C is provided with a pinion (not shown) which meshes with the rack 0 whereby as said rack is reciprocated the looper will be caused to oscillate and throw the thread around the needle I).

D represents a suitable channel guide which is fixedly secured to the bracket B, and E represents a back gage which is yieldingly pressed forward and locked at times by any usual or preferred form of mechanism common to such devices in the prior art.

F represents a feed-point which is secured in any suitable manner to an arm f, carried by one end of a rock-shaftf, mounted in a bearing f carried by a feed-slide f which is reciprooated in a guidewayf in the front of the frame a The opposite end of the rockshaft f carries a segmental gcarf which engages a segmental rack f on the short arm of a lever f fulcrumcd at f 8 and which carries acam-rollf, engaginga cam-path (not shown) in the side of cam 3 on the shaft (t the arrangement being such that a rocking of the leverf will, by means of the segmental gear and rack f and f rock the shaft f and impart an up-and-down movement to the feedpoint F to engage and disengage the work. A lateral movement is imparted to the feedslide f by means of a double-arm leverf which is fulcrumed at f the front arm of which is slotted (see Fig. 1) and engages a stud f on the feed-slide, and the rear arm of the lever f carries a cam-roll f, which engages a peripheral cam-path (not shown) in the cam 2, the arrangement being such that a rotation of the shaft (1 will, by the cams 2 and 3 and the leversf and f impart up-anddown and sidewise movements to the feedpoint F, whereby said point will engage and impartastep-bystep sidewise feed movement in the direction of the arrow, Figs. 1 and 3, to the work.

The take-up lever G has at its outer end a take-up g g, and said lever is fulcrumed at g on the shafta and is provided at its inner end with a cam-roll 9 which engages a campath (not shown) in the right-hand side of the cam 2, the arrangement being such that a rotation of the cam will impart an up-and-down movement to the take-up g g, as usual in-such machines.

H indicates a slack-controller carried by toggle-links 7t and h and yieldingly held in ongagement with the thread i by means of a spring kg. The thread 25 leads from any suitable thread waxing devices (not shown) through a tension device indicated diagrammatically at I, thence over the first take-up roll g and under the slack-controller H, over the second takeup roll g, and thence through the looper C.

All of the parts of the machine thus far described may be constructed and organized in a manner comm on to hook-needle chain-stitch machines and perform their several functions in a manner well known to those skilled in the art, it being understood that the tension device has suitable mechanism to lock and release the thread timed and arranged to cooperate with the component parts of the stitchforming mechanism, all as will be described in the description of the operation of the machine, which will be hereinafter set forth.

The parts thus far described in and of themselves form no part of the present invention, nor is the present invention restricted to the machine thus far described, as such parts have merely been selected as typical of a chain-stitch sewing-machine for the purpose of illustrating the present invention.

In the present invention the loop of the stitch which it is desired to shorten and which is the loop of the stitch last formed by the needle and which will be called the preceding stitch is shortened bya pull on the loop of thread drawn out by the needle and while the needle is out of the work, the pull on such thread being imparted in such a direction as to not bind or act on the closed end of the loop of the preceding stitch, which is the stitch being shortened, or, in other words, the pull exerted on the loop of thread last drawn out by the needle will be in the direction of the feed of the work. This pull on the loop of thread last drawn out by the needle may be produced in any suitable manner, as by imparting a relative sidcwise movement to the needle and the work, (a machine constructed and arranged to operate in such manner being disclosed in my application filed simultaneously herewith and serially numbered 081,320,) or, as in the machine of the drawings, such loop of thread may be engaged and the pull exerted thereon bya separate instrumentality,which will he hereinafter called a loopshortener and which will be now described.

The loop-shortener consists of an arm 7r, which is secured by screws to the forward end of the lever 70 and which at its forward end is bent at substantially a right angle, as shown, the extreme end being provided with a hook 70 to engage the loop of thread drawn out by the needle. (See Fig. 3.)

The loop-shortener is moved up and down for the purpose of removing it from the thread drawn up by the needle and for engaging such thread, and for this purpose the lever 70 is fulcrumed at k and at its rear end carries a cam-roll 70 engaging a cam-path (not shown) in the outer face of the cam 1.

After the loop-shortener has engaged the thread 25 drawn up by the needle it is moved laterally to the left, as the machine appears in Fig. 1, for the purpose of exerting the loopshortening pull thereon, and for such purpose the lever k is fulcrumed upon a slide is, which is arranged to be reciprocated in a suitable guideway 20 formed upon the rear face of the frame a and for the purpose of reciprocating said slide Ye it is provided with a cam-roll 70 which engages a peripheral cam -path (not shown) on the cam 1.

It will be noted that by the arrangement just described the loop-shortener 7c will have imparted to it substantially vertical movements toward and away from the loop of thread drawn up by the needle, the cam-path with Which the cam-roll k of the lever 10 engages being suitably formed to impart to said lever one complete oscillation during each revolution of the shaft a and that by means of the peripheral cam-path with which the cam-roll 70 of the slide 70 is engaged the said slide 70 will be reciprocated and impart to the lever 70 lateral reciprocations, the result being that the loop of thread drawn up by the needle will be engaged by the hook 70 of the loop-shortener la and a pull exerted thereon in the direction as indicated by the arrows in Figs. 1 and 3. The operation of the various stitch-forming elements of the machine is the same as similar elements in the chain-stitch hook-needle shoe-sewing machine familiar to those skilled in the art, but which will be briefly described in order that the operation of my improved loop-shortener may be clearly understood.

As illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the machine is .shown as uniting the welt and upper to the insole of awelted boot or shoe, and the work being positioned, as shown in Fig. 2, with the channel-guideD engaging the channel and the shoe held against the back gage, as in the usual mannerof operating welt-sewing machines, therotation of the main shaft will by the cam and connecting mechanism oscillate the needle-segment b and project the needle I) through the welt,

the edge of the upper, and the between substance of the insole, its point emerging from the channel. While the needle is in its forward position the looper C is actuated to throw the loop of thread around the needle and into the hook thereof. The needle is then retracted, drawing up a loop of thread. As the needle recedes the loop-shortener is actuated; but as this is the first stitch to be formed its operation will not now be described. The feed-point F, which is in engagement with the work and which holds the work during the operation of the loop-shortener, is now moved to the left, as shown in Fig. 1, feeding the work a distance according to the length of the stitch which it is desired to make, and is then disengaged from the work and retracted toward the right preparatory to again engaging the work for another feed movement. The needle is now advanced and enters the welt, as before, and

emerges from the channel of the insole, the

take-up or slack-controller acting during the advance of the needle to take up the slack thread and the looper is actuated, as before described, to place another loop of thread in the hook of the needle and the needle retracted, drawing the second loop of thread through the previously-formed loop, and just as the needle leaves the work and before it has reached the limit of its backward movement the tension I is locked, preventing the thread 25 from being drawn from its source of supply, and the loop-shortener is actuated while the work is held by the feed-point to quickly engage the thread and exert a sidewise pull thereon in the direction as shown in the drawings, thus shortening the loop of the preceding stitch, after which the loop-shortener is returned to the right and elevated to its normal position, and as the needle reaches its highest position its pull on the loop of thread will straighten out the loop of the stitch which has just been shortened and bring the loop of the next preceding stitch into its final position. The pull upon the thread drawn out by the needle by the loop-shortener being away from the closed end of the loop of the preceding stitch, there is nothing to interfere with the rendering of the thread of such stitch through the material, and the pull is regulated to such an extent that the loop of such stitch will be drawn somewhat shorter than the distance between the two adjacent punctures in the work, so that the backward pull of the needle on the loop of thread held thereby will exert a pull upon the shortened loop of the preceding stitch and bring the loop of the next preceding stitch into its final position.

In the foregoing description I have referred to the loop-shortener as engaging a loop of thread drawn up by the needle, and by such description I mean to include either the engaging of one portion of said loop of thread, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, or the engagement of both portions of said loop.

It is to be observed that my invention is not limited to the specific embodiment of mechanism illustrated and described, but consists,broadly, in any mechanism independent of the work-feedin g mechanism which will engage and impart to the loop of thread drawn up by the needle a loop-shortening movement in a direction away from the closed end of the loop of the preceding stitch.

Having described the construction and mode of operation of the illustrated embodiment of my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. In a chain-stitch hook-needle sewingmachine, the combination with a needle and the component parts of a stitch-forming mechanism including a Work-feeding mechanism, of a loop-shortener independent of the workfeeding n1ecl1anism,and means to actuate said loop-shortener to cause it to engage the loop of thread drawn up by the needle and to exert a sidewise pull thereon in the line of the feed of the work, substantially as described.

2. In a chain-stitch hook-needle sewingmachine, the combination with the needle and the component parts of a stitch-forming mechanism including a work-feeding mechanism, of a loop-shortening device independent of the work feeding mechanism, and means to actuate said device to cause it to shortenthe loop of the preceding stitch after the needle has been withdrawn from such loop, by a pull on the loop last drawn out in the line of the feed of the work, substantially as described.

3. In a chain-stitch hook-needle sewingmachine, the combination with a needle and component parts of the stitch-forming mechanism, of a loop-shortner, means to actuate the loop-shortener to cause it to engage the loop of thread being drawn out by the needle and exert a pull thereon, in the directionof the feed of the work and away from the closed end of the preceding loop, and means to hold the work fixed during the operation of the loop-shortener; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES W. MELOON. lVitnesses:

T. HART ANDERSON, HORACE VAN EVEREN. 

